Serendipity

Reading this post on Fred Wilson’s blog, I can relate in a small way. Well, no one is likely to recognize me on a flight, but in a sense, putting yourself out there on a blog, on twitter, and in business, opens up doors to learn from and interact with people at a different level than keeping it all in your own head. I’ve made friends at the coffee shop, at airports, on plane flights, and at conferences, and when those conferences are focused on BPM, odds are the folks I talk to have seen the blog or heard of BP3, or our widely adopted UI product, Brazos UI.

“I am not saying that everyone should blog. That’s not going to work for most people. But finding some way to connect to the people you should know is huge. It could be public speaking, it could be publishing research, it could be going to conferences all the time. Whatever it is, getting out there and networking and meeting people is the secret to building a big rolodex. And a big rolodex is an incredible asset to have.”

With pre-SXSW-Interactive activities kicking off tomorrow, it feels like a good time to be reminded of the value of serendipity. At SXSW in previous years I’ve made new friends, met old classmates and colleagues, and reconnected with good friends. Some of the best sessions I attended were the result of coincidence and chance.